Bethlehem Twp. couple sues water agency over sinkhole damage to their house

A Bethlehem Township couple has sued the Bethlehem Authority for its failure last autumn to prevent a water leak that they say produced the large sinkholes that badly damaged their home.

John and Julie Eates of 1827 Hampton Road say in the lawsuit that the water authority was aware of earlier water-main breaks nearby and could have taken steps to prevent another.

"Due to the manner in which the defendants' representatives installed the water main pipe, it became susceptible to leakage and breakage underground, thereby creating a dangerous condition," according to the lawsuit, which was filed two months ago, but released this week.

The Eateses lived just a block south of where Hampton Road was shut down Friday night because of a water-main break and reported sinkholes between Freemansburg Avenue and Birch Drive.

On Nov. 20, water from a broken water main gushed under their house, porches and driveway, according to the suit. One sinkhole that appeared that night swallowed up half of a PPL truck.

The sinkholes rendered the home uninhabitable, says the suit, which asks Northampton County Court to determine how much the Bethlehem Authority should pay the couple for their losses and costs.

A Bethlehem Township water main break cut off power to several homes and an elementary school Thursday night and created a sinkhole that a PPL truck slipped into early Friday.

"Ultimately, the substantial flow of water underground of the plaintiffs' premises caused significant damage throughout the property," the suit says, "including but not limited to a collapsing of their driveway, sinkholes throughout the property, cracks in the foundation of their home, cracks throughout the walls of their home, sinking of both the front and back porches, and other significant property damage to be determined upon complete evaluation."

The suit accuses the authority of failing to replace or repair the pipes over 40 years and failing to turn off the water in the Eates' neighborhood as soon as the agency suspected a pipe break.

Fire officials said the water-main break happened about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20. It appeared first as a small depression in the Eates' driveway, about two blocks south of Freemansburg Avenue.

A PPL work truck's back end dropped below street level as the sinkhole widened just after midnight. The next morning, as crews worked to fill the hole, a dump truck loaded with dirt slipped into it, too.

About 10 homes were evacuated because of the pipe break and fears of a gas leak. By 8 a.m. Nov. 21, most residents had returned to their homes, but the Eates' house was kept off limits.